Relations Between Prenatal Testosterone Levels and Cognitive Abilities at 4 Years

Relations between prenatal testosterone (T) levels and cognitive abilities at age 4 were examined for 28 girls and 30 boys. Prenatal T levels were measured in 2nd trimester amniotic fluid samples obtained by amniocentesis and were examined in relation to scores on tests of cognitive abilities. For girls, prenatal T levels showed a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relation to language comprehension and classification abilities. Linear relations also were observed in that prenatal T levels were inversely related to girls’ scores on tasks assessing counting and number facts. Similarly, girls with high average block building scores had lower prenatal T levels than those with low average block building scores. For boys, relations between prenatal T and cognitive abilities were not observed. The observation of relations in girls and not boys is discussed, and the findings are examined in relation to theories of hormone-behavior relations.